Aditi to tee off at star-studded NZ Open golf

Aditi Ashok, widely seen as the new rising golfing talent from India, is all set to tee off in a star-studded field at ISPS HANDA New Zealand Women's Open here.
The field will witness World No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand and 2015 LET Rookie of the Year Kristine Pedersen, whose successes in 2015 included the Hero Women's Indian Open in Gurgaon, in action.
Having finished tied 31 in her professional debut last week in Victoria, Australia, Aditi is confident of putting up a good show here.
"I have had good practice rounds on the course and I am all set. The greens are nice and quick and it is one of the most beautiful golf courses I have seen and getting to play here is exciting," she said.

Aditi, who won the LET's Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifier in December, will play the first round alongside Amelia Lewis and New Zealand amateur Munchin Keh at Clearwater Golf Club here.
"The key will be to create enough birdie chances to score well throughout the week and manage the course well. I am just going to play my game and give myself enough chances to put up a good score and do my best this week and it is great to be playing in such a field this week," the 19-year-old said.

Meanwhile, Danish Pedersen, who turns 20 on March 7, has been grouped with Lydia Ko and Australian amateur Hannah Green for the first two rounds.

In 2015, Emily played her Rookie season on the LET and secured five top-10s in 14 starts and her first LET victory came at the Hero Women's Indian Open. She finished sixth on the Order of Merit but was crowned LET 2015 Rookie of the Year.
Also in the field will be last week's Victorian Open champion Georgia Hall, last year's Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open winner Rebecca Artis and Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord, also in a rich vein of form.
In the next group, the 2015 Ladies European Tour Players' Player of the Year Nicole Broch Larsen will tee up alongside former winner Gwladys Nocera and Cathryn Bristow from New Zealand. All three players currently feature in the top 60 on the Women's Olympic Ranking.